B.C. mayor renews calls for national force dedicated to policing ports

The mayor of Delta, home to Canada’s largest container terminal, says organized crime groups are exploiting security weaknesses at ports.

"We need to have a better federal policy. I'm very upset and continue to be upset,” George Harvie said in an interview with CTV News.

In the past two weeks, RCMP have announced arrests in a pair of large investigations linked to Mexican drug cartels.

A raid in Surrey yielded drugs, guns and cash and three men were taken into custody.

They have since been released and RCMP say they are pursuing drug and firearms charges.

A bust in Falkland, east of Kamloops, uncovered what police describe as the largest and most sophisticated drug super lab in Canadian history.

Police say Gaganpreet Randhawa is "considered the main suspect" and is currently in custody facing multiple drug and weapons charges.

Harvie says transnational organized criminals are operating freely in British Columbia.

"The cartels are known to be here,” he said. “And we're receiving illegal contraband including weapons, drugs and precursors from land, from the air and from the sea too."

Harvie is calling for a national police force dedicated to cracking down on illegal activities at ports – something the RCMP and Canada Border Services Agency are currently responsible for.

B.C.’s public safety minister has raised the issue with his federal counterparts.

"Back in September, the minister of public safety and solicitor general wrote to the federal government, urging them to increase enforcement and to pursue efforts in closing the gaps in federal legislation and regulations that organized crime groups are exploiting at our ports,” the B.C. Ministry of Public Safety said in a statement.

Former B.C. solicitor general Kash Heed sees no reason to create a whole new agency when the Mounties are already on the job.

"It's not a good idea and resources absolutely could be utilized in a different fashion,” he said.

Heed believes the RCMP may need new strategies for combatting illegal activity at ports – and says that may require additional funding.

It’s an investment he feels would be a better use of tax dollars than creating a dedicated national port policing agency.

"Why would we go to that great expense and work when we have a mandated federal agency responsible for it at this particular time?” Heed said.